Stranger than Fiction, Larger Than Life: the Finn Brothers song-by-song discussion thread

The Crowded House sets go on sale at very reasonable prices from time to time. If you're an amazon customer, keep an eye on prices using keepa.com (you can select a price point you're willing to spend and you can get an email if it drops to that price). There's a used Intriguer deluxe in excellent condition for £8.50 on amazon.co.uk right now, I'd get it if I were you.

PS I'm pleased you've rejoined the discussion here.

 

This really closely aligns to how I feel about CH. Except that I came in on the debut album. For me those first 3 albums all sound like CH, I took some adjusting on TA (allowing for the non-Froominess I guess). And my concerns about the Finn Family balance in the new version are exactly the same - but is tempered by my previous comment that Elroy and Liam were kind of born to CH so they know (hopefully) the sound and feel that needs to be produced.

I'm happy for Neil that he gets to tour with his sons. That's got to be special. I did wonder if it essentially stalls Liam's career though. Maybe it's just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

 

I Pray to Heaven - it's a very good song. The melody line reminds me of some other song but I can't quite figure it out. It sounds so familiar. In any case, leaving that aside, I quite like it but think it would make a good Finn Brothers song - It reminds me quite a bit of stuff on EIH. I also think Tim could take the higher vocal harmony and really round out the song. I like it and it would like to hear a (slightly) more finished version of this song (but hopefully retaining the sparser sound).

3.5/5

 

Well, this is a mystery. He did an ambient, digital-only soundtrack album last year, but otherwise hasn't really released anything that wasn't a one-off since 2014 -- well other than Lightsleeper, which is arguably Liam-dominated.

I notice he directs and edits his own videos and he produced Out of Silence and since he seemed to be living in LA until recently I wonder if he's not trying to make a career behind the scenes in the film and music industries.

 

Thanks man, appreciate that.

Edit: That set seems to be gone now.

 

I'm not familiar with Liam's work. Maybe he is just taking opportunities as they present. His Betchadupa/solo stuff has been his career for a very long time and I guess he's not obliged to be on the treadmill of producing albums. I like the idea that he's following the opportunities to do lots of different stuff.

 

I thought The Nihilist was absolutely brilliant and would love to hear another solo album from him. Hopefully someday soon.

 

That makes me happy, I like the first two solo albums and love Lightsleeper but haven't heard much of that one.

 

Intriguer Deluxe is definitely streaming on YouTube and Spotify (and probably Apple Music, I will never go back there after those bastards erased all my playlists in 2019.) Check it out first, but it's definitely worth buying, if you ask me.

 

I think the Intriguer deluxe edition is really essential. Crowded House toured in 2008, working up some of the songs that appeared on Intriguer as well as some additional songs that didn't make the cut (some made it as far as the studio; others were abandoned on the road). The abandoned songs include three of the four that really hit me on the 2008 tour, so the deluxe edition is would be worth it even if it were limited to those songs. But there's other good stuff too.

I'll save the rest of my commentary for when we discuss Intriguer.

 

PLEASE NOTE: confusingly there are 2 different products called Intriguer Deluxe - one is the 2016 release with all the extra tracks while the other is a 2010 release of the standard album on CD plus a DVD of home studio performances - so be careful to get the right one. I think the £8.50 one mentioned is just the 2010 CD/DVD version.

 

Thanks for mentioning this. I actually have the 2010 "deluxe edition," but had forgotten about its existence. My comments above are about the 2016 release.

 

Yep i have that 2010 DVD, too. Its pretty good but definitely for the hardcore fan. The 2016 deluxe has the “new songs.”

 

I Pray To Heaven

This is just a demo, and shows me that I need to catch up on Fangradio, as I'm missing out.

It's a nice chord progression and melody. I can't quite hear what is being said in all the lyrics.

For some reason I imagine this as a jaunty song with Paul on the brushes.

I think there's promise there, but the song doesn't seem to have a melodic highpoint yet. But, it has a lot of nice verse and middle eight.

3.0/5

 

Thanks for the heads up on those different editions. I would order the £8.50 edition, if it weren't for the prohibitive postage.

 

"I Pray to Heaven" is clearly at a very early stage of development here--the lyrics are basically gibberish, as far as I can tell. There are some decent melodic ideas here (one of which prefigures "The Only Way to Go Is Forward" from the 2008 tour), but there's not enough melodic development. It seems unfair to rate something at such an early stage of development, so I won't.

 

Being a lifelong atheist, the name of the song is a turnoff to me, but the reason I'm not going to rate this because it's so obviously not intended for public consumption. It amazes me that a musician of Neil's caliber would let such a demo escape out into the world. Does that signal extreme self-confidence, or just a lack of caring?

Both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have recently released previously unheard recordings from their distant past, few of which are enjoyable to listen to. I'm tempted to suspect it's profit-motivated, as both have many rabid completist fans who they know will buy anything associated with their names. Of course I realize that "I Pray To Heaven" is not a commercial release, but the singing sounds so bad that it really should have been kept in the drawer.

 

Its just like seeing an artist’s sketches.

It is interesting in my opinion. It’s interesting to see how an artist gets from a demo to a finished piece.

One can choose not to listen. I am a little bored at some demos, though, Ill admit.

 

I see no sign of Intriguer (in any form) on Apple Music in the US.

 

Tell me about it. I just had my sister priority airmail me something from Australia (an Icehouse CD plus some candy) and it was AUD39.00. I'm gonna guess that the whole parcel didn't weigh more than 200g...
It's why I try not to have my family mail stuff to me from Australia. I'd usually rather wait for my next visit and then just load up my luggage. Which works out because normally I'm taking a ton of stuff to them so I'm just refilling the suitcase with stuff I want...

 

It doesn’t appear to be on US Spotify, either.

 

Do you guys have to pay customs on top of that? I recently ordered something from Japan and i had to fill in all these forms and i ended paying about 30$ in customs tax. For a bloody used CD.

 

Nope but then my sister labelled it as a gift - easy to do when you are related! She filled out the customs forms for the parcel (and put on the value) but there is a checkbox for gift. I do the same on those rare occasions when I mail stuff to Australia. I had actually purchased the CD and had it sent to her (since it's an Australian release) and then she combined it with the candy I had requested (for my kid, not me!).

From my experience shipping internationally for the company I work for, it's important to know up front who is responsible for all customs duties etc. We always stipulate that it's the receiver's responsibility (pretty typical). We fill out the invoices but if the customer wants to actually receive the goods they have to pay the appropriate taxes/duties to get them out of customs. Sometimes bigger companies, who have your credit card will have the fees sent back to the sender and then they add it to their invoice to you (the famous shipping and handling line!)

Still doesn't change the fact that it sucks to have to pay a significant amount to get it out of customs that hadn't been factored in originally. I'm sorry to hear that happened to you Lance.

 

Of course, I'm ignoring the fact that a RT ticket to Australia probably costs over $2K (depending on the time of the year) - not really a shipping saving in that context! More like strategic packing...but my next trip won't be until at least the end of 2021 which will make it about 3.5 years since I visited last.

 

I don’t think it signals either one of those things. How many people listen to Fang Radio? I am probably one of the most diehard Neil Finn fans out there and I don’t listen to it. It never seems to be on at a convenient time, and then I forget to go back and listen to it...or more correctly, don’t have the mental energy to remember to go back and listen to it, as nearly every artist I love has been broadcasting more than I can realistically consume since the pandemic started. Never mind that I am still working full time in a mentally exhausting job and trying to navigate life (and mental health) during this pandemic and I just can’t keep up. I appreciate that Neil puts this kind of thing out there as a glimpse into his artistic process.